TUCSON, Ariz.— The Arizona Beach Volleyball team will open the 2025 season playing  in the GCU Invitational in Phoenix, Arizona February 22-23.

The Wildcats take on Saint Mary's Feb 22 (Sat) at 12:00 PM MST, Grand Canyon Feb 22 (Sat) at 6:00 PM MST, Benedictine University Mesa Feb 23 (Sun) at 2:00 PM MST, and Ottawa University Arizona Feb 23 (Sun) at 4:00 PM MST.

The 2025 season consists of 28 regular season matches. The Sand Cats will travel to Fort Worth, TX for the Big 12 Tournament and Huntington Beach, California for the NCAA Beach Championship. The Sand Cats ended the 2024 season 21-12, with 11 wins at home.

GCU Invitational Match Ups

Saint Mary's- The Wildcats won the only previous matchup with Saint Mary's, defeating the Gaels, 5-0, during the 2024 season. 

Grand Canyon- The Wildcats have an overall record of (4-4) against Grand Canyon. Their most recent matchup was in March of 2024 and resulted in a victory for Arizona, with the Wildcats winning 3-2.

Benedictine University Mesa- Arizona is 4-0 in their meetings with Benedictine. The Wildcats swept their last matchup against the Redhawks 5-0 in the 2024 season.

Ottawa University Arizona- The Wildcats won their only prior meeting with Ottawa.

The Wildcats are set to host three tournaments and one single match up against ASU over the course of the 2025 season:

• Feb. 28-March 1: Cactus Classic

• March 21-22: Arizona Invitational

• March 26: vs. ASU

• April 4-5: Wildcat Spring Challenge

The Sand Cats roster is composed of nine returners and five freshman players.

NOTING THE WILDCATS
Kylee Fitzsimmons went 19-12 in the 2024 season with partners Annie Kost and Grace Cook. Fitzsimmons defeated the No. 3 pair from top-ranked UCLA with partner Grace Cook. Last season, she also defeated ASU's No. 3 pair with partner Grace Cook in two sets (21-15, 21-17). 

Annie Kost has a career record of 47-28 (0.627) with the Wildcats. Last season, Kost went 21-11 with partner Kylee Fitzsimmons and Hope Shannon. Kost went undefeated at the No. 3 position with partner Hope Shannon. She also tied for No. 18 on Arizona's list of season win leaders and ranks as No.15 on Arizona's list of career wins leaders.

Kate Phillips holds a career record of 21-11 (0.656) from her freshman year. In 2024, she went 21-11 with her partners Jess Horwath and Maki Bispham. Phillips tied with Annie Kost for the most wins on the Arizona roster in the 2024 season. She earned the No. 12 spot on Arizona's list of pair season wins leaders with partner Jess Horwath. Phillips defeated ASU's pair twice at No. 4 with partner Jess Horwath.

Ashlyn Zilliken has achieved a career record of 17-13 (.567) from her freshman year. Last season, she went 17-13 with her partners Miranda Erro and Elin Kaiser. Zilliken teamed up with partner Miranda Erro to earn the clinching point against ASU in Arizona's final home match of the season by winning the third set 19-17.